Prisoner of War
by Cyberchao X
Summary: Um...what could have happened if Thracia 776's "Capture" mechanic had existed in Seisen no Keifu? Honestly, even I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing here.


Prisoner of War  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

CCX: I think I may have done more long-term harm than good with all of that success…lately I haven't felt as good about my output. It probably doesn't help that this will be my second straight low-audience fic…well, regardless, might as well get this down. You know, I try to vary up the pairings each playthrough, but a lot of couples I just like too much to let go. And most of the male characters that show up from Chapter 8 on seem to always end up unpaired, so…yeah.

Disclaimer: _Fire Emblem_ is property of Intelligent Systems and Nintendo.

"_Gehhh…where am I? I'm…still alive. I shouldn't be…"_ A quick check revealed that all of her weapons had been confiscated. _"Well, of course. Obviously I must be a prisoner now. But why take me alive?"_ She looked around again, and though she couldn't be sure, she had an idea of where she was…and she started laughing.

"I'm sorry; do you find your situation _funny_?"

Ishtar looked at the person who addressed her. "That depends. Is this not the dungeon of _Freege Castle_ that I am being confined in?"

"It seemed appropriate."

"You must be my guard."

"That I am. Personally, I'd rather be out there on the battlefield, but Sir Celice feels that I'm the most qualified for this job, and he makes a good point. Even if you were somehow able to get your hands on the Thor Hammer, you wouldn't be any match for me. Although I doubt you would be stupid enough to try, as currently you have been granted mercy and any attempt to escape would be construed as a refusal of our mercy, at which point I'm authorized to kill you."

"Well, now, that's quite the boast. What makes you so confident that you could take me?"

The sage looked confused. "Oh, that's right; Faval took you out with the Ichival the first two times you crossed our army, so you never actually did face me, did you? In that case, I apologize for not introducing myself properly. I am Sety, prince of Silesia."

"Silesia…then that tome there is Holsety. You're right; I would be at a distinct disadvantage if I tried to fight you, even were I at full strength and wielding my Holy Weapon. So why am I being held here?"

"Because Prince Yurius still lives. You have feelings for him, do you not? Therefore it would have been foolish to even consider trying to get you to join our cause. Once he is dead and you have no further reason to fight us, you will _probably_ be released…eventually."

"'No further reason to fight you'? How exactly do you figure _that_? I'd think that seeing as how you and your lot have killed my family and are intending to kill the man I love, I'd have quite a few reasons to fight you."

"At the expense of self-preservation. Also, the House of Freege falling in disgrace. To a degree, anyway."

"I'd have thought that ship had already sailed."

"You're obviously not asking the right questions."

"_What a smug bastard…_" "Hmm…ah, but of course. The obvious question: Why, seeing as how I'm obviously considered irredeemable, was I even granted mercy at all?"

Sety smiled. "Because you Freeges have a way of getting in good with royalty. You're hardly alone in that respect."

"…Won't give me a straight answer, will you?"

"From what I hear, your mother was even more excited about the prospect of Yurius making you his wife than you were. A power-hungry fool. Sadly, her death spared her from suffering the delicious irony of the upcoming regime…"

"…Oh." Ishtar looked down at the ground. "Ishtore and I both frowned upon our mother's treatment of our aunts and cousins…"

"Which is precisely why you're still alive. Your brother, from what I heard, was already dead when your cousin joined Celice's army, so that couldn't be helped. I also heard that your mother was the only member of your family that actually supported the child hunts?"

"That…that is correct."

"You seem like a good person. How did you end up involved with one as dark as Prince Yurius?"

"He…he wasn't always like that. It's all that Manfroy's fault…"

"Well, it's not my place to judge."

Silence. "So, your commander, Lord Celice…he and Tinny are in love, huh?"

"Yes, she was the one who asked for you to be spared if at all possible. Celice had his doubts if it _would_ be possible, but…he managed."

"Is it true? That he's the real heir to the throne?"

"That's a matter of perspective. By traditional laws of succession, yes, he is, as he is indeed the firstborn son of the late Queen Deirdre. However, the enduring legacy of the royal family of Grandbell is Saint Heim's holy bloodline, and while Celice did inherit _some_ of it from his mother, the true heir of Saint Heim is Princess Yuria."

"The princess?"

"Even now she is channeling Naga against her twin brother."

"…so she's been freed from Manfroy's grip. I'm glad."

"I wonder…did your mother know that Tinny was related to the royal family as well? No, not Heim's bloodline…Fala's. _Emperor Alvis's_, more specifically."

"Alvis's? Then…that would make her related to Prince Yurius as well." Ishtar thought about this. "Wait, wouldn't that mean that Tinny and Celice are related?"

"No more than it would mean that you and Yurius are related. You are Tinny's cousin on her mother's side, and Yurius is her cousin on her father's side. Celice is Yurius's half-brother, but they share a mother, whereas Tinny is Yurius's cousin on his father's side. …And on top of that, Azel and Alvis were only half-brothers themselves."

"You certainly know a lot about this war."

"I've…listened in on Sir Celice's conversations with his advisor. I've been trying to figure out how he knows so much…and why he's such a prick."

"You're not exactly a paragon of niceness yourself."

"I am _nothing like him!_" Ishtar was surprised to see Sety lose his temper, after the Sage had remained so calm up until this point.

"…Why would you be?"

"That's…that's not…"

"Is he…your father?"

"I have no father."

"Seems like I hit the nail on the head."

"My 'father' hasn't been himself for quite some time. Kind of like your prince."

"Maybe Manfroy had something to do with that, too."

"I suppose it's _possible_, but…huh. He _does_ seem to care a lot about Princess Yuria's safety, even as he ignores his own children…"

More silence. "So I'm supposed to just pretend that all of this never happened after it's all over, and I'll be…what?"

"I don't know. As best as I can understand it, Sir Celice recognizes that as the wielder of the Thor Hammer, you _are_ technically the rightful Duchess of Freege. And, of course, Freege most likely _will_ finally have the high status that your grandfather had been seeking when he began to conspire against the Royal Family, what with your cousin set to become the new queen. So there wouldn't really be any logical reason for you to rebel."

"Except for revenge for my parents, brother, and lover."

"By our own admission, the Prince Yurius you knew and loved has been gone for quite some time now."

"My parents and brother, then."

"Revenge is hardly a 'logical' reason."

Ishtar didn't argue this. "Where do you fit into all of this?"

"When the war is over? I probably go back to Silesia and become their king. And eventually suffer a lot of pressure to get married and produce an heir."

"'Pressure'?"

"Well, maybe not. I suppose that now that I've at least _found_ my absentee father, I can be a bit more at ease, and looking for a wife will actually interest me."

"Also, you won't have to take the throne right away if your father is still alive."

"As if he'll actually return to Silesia and rule like he's supposed to."

"That wasn't the way I heard it. I heard that the last king of Silesia was a good ruler who cared about the welfare of his people."

"Until he just left, leaving his wife and children all alone. My mother died, and my father was nowhere to be found. He didn't even know she was dead until I met up with him."

"There, there."

"…If you're looking for weapons you could use, don't bother. We anticipated that possibility; you'll find that Holsety is the only tome I'm carrying."

"I…wasn't trying to escape."

"…I know."

* * *

><p>CCX: So again as I finish a fic, I have to ask: What the fuck was that? Obviously a rather half-hearted attempt at what TVTropes calls "Foe Yay", but…it was just weird. And it was really hard to rein in the exposition even to <em>that<em> degree, since a lot of what needed to be said wouldn't logically be known by either one of them. This…this was just a mess, I think. But hey, _Seisen no Keifu_ gets no love here, so even a mediocre fanfic is progress.


End file.
